Honestly, The Lion King is already a big franchise. Not only is there the original 1994 animated film, there are also spin-off series, direct-to-DVD sequels, video games, a musical, and more. The icing on the cake for Disney may have been Jon Favreau’s live-action adaptation of The Lion King, which grossed $1.66 billion worldwide. The sequel, Mufasa: The Lion King, hits theaters July 4, 2023 and is directed by Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins.
But that’s probably not all, at least Disney producer Sean Bailey let it out in a conversation with the transparent: “The Lion King” could be expanded into a “great, epic saga” like the “Star Wars” franchise.
“The Lion King”: There’s More To Come!
After the movie “Mufasa” it is far from the end. There’s still plenty of room for more if you find the right stories, Bailey said. That Disney continues to rely on this horse after the huge success of the live-action movie “The Lion King” is not surprising, nor is the comparison with the flagship franchise “Star Wars”.
Of course, Mufasa, Simba, Pumbaa and Co. their lightsabers now undrawn. But a reference to “Star Wars” always shows: here you can come up with spin-offs, cross-generational stories, big screen movies and series for Disney+, crossovers, sequels, prequels and whatever else.
Disney is still planning original material
Sean Bailey assures those now complaining about franchise fatigue: Disney is also continuously working on original material. The fact is, it’s sometimes harder to get an audience excited about an unfamiliar story and turn a profit, because familiar things attract so much more. “It’s really hard to break through and have an original, big commercial hit,” said the producer. But we’ll keep trying.
In the interview, Bailey also pointed out one of the Disney projects they want to try in the near future: “The cemetery book‘, in which a boy is raised by the ghosts in a graveyard. The film is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman, which in turn was inspired by “The Jungle Book” – only here the orphan is raised not by animals, but by supernatural phenomena. However, there is no theatrical release date yet for Marc Forster’s film.
Currently, you can still watch the latest Disney live action adaptation “The Little Mermaid” in cinemas. This also includes a guest appearance by Arielle’s original voice actress. You can find where in the movie this is hidden here: